Monthly Archives: March 2012

Select a Publication: N E W S P A P E R S ---------------------------------------------- ---Alberta--- Airdrie - Airdrie Echo Banff - Banff Crag and Canyon Beaumont - Beaumont News Calgary - The Calgary Sun Camrose - Camrose Canadian Canmore - Canmore Leader Central Alberta - County Market Cochrane - Cochrane Times Cold Lake - Cold Lake Sun Crowsnest Pass - Crowsnest Pass Promoter Devon - Dispatch News Drayton - Drayton Valley Western Review Edmonton - Edmonton Examiner Edmonton - The Edmonton Sun Edson - Edson Leader Fairview - Fairview Post Fort McMurray - Fort McMurray Today Fort Saskatchewan - Fort Saskatchewan Record Grande Prairie - Daily Herald Tribune Hanna - Hanna Herald High River - High River Times Hinton - Hinton Parklander Lacombe - Lacombe Globe Leduc - Leduc Representative Lloydminster - Meridian Booster Mayerthorpe - Mayerthorpe Freelancer Nanton - Nanton News Peace Country - Peace Country Sun Peace River - Peace River Record Gazette Pincher Creek - Pincher Creek Echo Sherwood Park - Sherwood Park News Spruce Grove - Spruce Grove Examiner Stony Plain - Stony Plain Reporter Strathmore - Strathmore Standard Vermilion - Vermilion Standard Vulcan - Vulcan Advocate Wetaskiwin - Wetaskiwin Times Whitecourt - Whitecourt Star ---Manitoba--- … Continue reading →

Frustrated Massachusetts public health regulators pledged Wednesday to take their campaign for a ban on tobacco sales at pharmacies directly to state lawmakers and the Patrick administration. Five months ago, the state Public Health Council voted unanimously to direct administration officials to investigate the feasibility of prohibiting tobacco sales at drug stores, a measure now in place in about two dozen Massachusetts cities and towns. But with little evidence of movement on the issue, the council - an appointed panel of doctors, consumer advocates, and professors - decided Wednesday to press its case in a letter-writing campaign to Beacon Hill lawmakers. It is morally reprehensible for health care facilities . . . to continue to sell products that will kill a third of their patrons and drive the others to use their numerous pharmacies for their [smoking-related] illnesses, said Dr. Alan Woodward, past president of the Massachusetts Medical Society and a member of the Public Health Council. The initiative will include letters to the Legislature, the Patrick administration, and the states Board of Registration in Pharmacy, which regulates pharmacists, asking it to take all appropriate actions to end the sale of tobacco in pharmacies. Legislation to ban tobacco sales at … Continue reading →

By Anna Yukhananov WASHINGTON, March 21 (Reuters) - U.S. lawmakers are investigating three pharmacies in Maryland and North Carolina accused of passing critical drugs in short supply directly to wholesalers, who are likely to profit from the scarcity of life-saving medicines, rather than to the patients that need them. Elijah Cummings, the top Democrat on the influential House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, began a probe in October to discover why certain companies were peddling cancer drugs at more than a hundred times their normal cost, while hospitals and patients were scrambling to receive any. The Food and Drug Administration has said the number of drugs in short supply, which include cancer, anesthesiology and nutrition medications, had risen to 220 in 2011 from 56 in 2006, the year a clear trend started emerging. Many of the drugs are generic, sterile injectable medications, such as cytarabine, a key treatment for leukemia, or fluorouracil, for colon and other cancers. According to details of the investigation made public on Wednesday, some wholesalers opened up their own phony pharmacies simply to get their hands on drugs in short supply and re-sell them to patients at possibly higher prices. In some cases, the pharmacy … Continue reading →

ATLANTA, March 21, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Broadspire, a Crawford Company and leading third party administrator (TPA) and medical management services provider, will bring together representatives from a number of key industry organizations to discuss challenges in prescription drug management for workers compensation claims during its first pharmacy summit Thursday. "The intention of the summit is to focus on global industry issues, trends and developments in the future," said Danielle Lisenbey, Broadspire's chief executive officer. "One of our key objectives is to help identify common threads that tie together claimant, payer, employer and carrier interests. We expect to share ideas that we can put into practice to improve outcomes for everyone concerned." More than 50 brokers, practice leaders, clinicians and others from major insurers, insurance brokerage firms and pharmacy benefit management (PBM) organizations will attend the summit, which will be held at Broadspire's Sunrise, Fla., medical management headquarters. Broadspire medical management personnel and representatives of the attending organizations will be featured speakers. The summit will include sessions on the following topics: Workers compensation prescription drug use is on the rise and accounts for 19 percent of all medical costs related to work comp claims, according to the National Council on Compensation … Continue reading →

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Lawmakers are investigating three shadowy pharmacies in Maryland and North Carolina for diverting critical but scarce drugs from patients to wholesalers, who are then able to resell the medicine at sometimes big markups. Elijah Cummings, the senior Democrat on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, began a probe in October to discover why certain companies were selling cancer drugs at more than a hundred times their normal cost. Shortages of hundreds of drugs including cisplatin, a highly effective treatment for testicular cancer, and fluorouracil for colon and other cancers have helped create a lucrative shadow market. The Food and Drug Administration has said the number of drugs in short supply, which also include anesthesiology and nutrition medications, had risen to 220 in 2011 from 56 in 2006. According to preliminary details of Cummings' investigation, made public on Wednesday, some wholesalers opened their own sham pharmacies to obtain drugs in short supply and re-sell them. One wholesaler increased the price tenfold from the pharmacy cost. "It's shocking to the conscience that anyone because of their greed would deny medicines to patients, who are in many instances in critical condition," Cummings said in an interview. "If it's … Continue reading →

DUBLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Dublin - Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/783e792c/pharmacy_retail_ma) has announced the addition of the "Pharmacy Retail Market in India 2012" report to their offering. The Pharmacy Retail Market in India is a considerably big market already but has tremendous scope to grow further. Retail pharmacy outlets happens to be the most dominant distribution channel that is responsible for satisfying customer needs of pharmaceutical and allied products directly. The report begins with the introduction section that deals with the growing significance and work scope of pharmacy retailers followed by the various formats of stores prevalent in the country and the distribution channel from pharmacy manufacturer to the retailer. The market overview section provides an insight into the current and forecasted market size of the pharmacy retail market till 2016. The significance of retail outlets as the most popular pharmacy sales source is conceived from the market trend figures. The report is then provided with the driving factors that are encouraging the pharmacy retail market among which the growing pharmaceutical market finds a prominent position. Increased healthcare spending, changing disease profile, growing OTC segment, consumer's attitude towards their disease and illness and lucrative profit margins evolve as the possible reasons for the … Continue reading →